Corner studs and manufacturing method

ABSTRACT

A corner stud ( 50 ) has intersecting first and second walls ( 52, 54 ) that back up corner edge portions of wallboard panels ( 40, 42 ) that meet at the inside corner. The walls ( 52, 54 ) are braced by walls ( 64, 70 ) and flanges ( 76, 78 ). Wall ( 52 ) and wall ( 70 ) may be parallel to each other and to flange ( 76 ). Wall ( 54 ) and wall ( 64 ) may be parallel to each other and flange ( 78 ). The stud ( 50, 52, 200, 202 ) may have a web bent about a longitudinal axis to form web parts separated by an inside angle (a). The angle a may be an obtuse angle below one hundred eighty degrees (180°) to about two hundred seventy degrees (270°).

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.11/451,185, filed Jun. 12, 2006 and entitled SHEET METAL INTERSECTIONSTUDS.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to sheet metal framing walls. More particularly,it relates to the provision of studs usable where two walls intersect,for facilitating the connection together of the two walls.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Building framing walls intersect each other at corners. These wallsinclude upper and lower horizontal tracks and vertical studs extendingbetween the tracks. FIG. 1 of the drawing herein shows a prior art useof three standard studs where two walls intersect at a corner. There isa need for solid back up for the edge portions of wallboard panels wherethey meet a corner of a wall. Solid back up is not adequately providedby the prior art arrangement of conventional studs.

There is a need for an inside corner stud that can be easily and quicklyinstalled into upper and lower track corners. There is also a need foran inside corner stud that provides substantial backing for the edgeportions of the wallboard panels that meet at the inside corner whitesaving costs. It is the primary object of the present invention to fillthese needs.

In building construction, not all walls intersect each other at ninetydegrees (90°). Some walls intersect at an angle that is larger thanninety degrees (90°) and less than one hundred and eighty (180°). Acommon intersection angle is one hundred and thirty-five degrees (135°).There is a need for corner studs that can be used at these corners.Another object of the present invention is to fill this need.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide an elongated one-piece sheetmetal corner stud having first and second perpendicular walls that meetat the inside corner. Upper end portions of these walls are connected toflanges on a corner portion of an upper track. Lower end portions ofthese walls are connected to flanges that are on a corner portion of alower track.

In preferred form, the corner stud includes a third wall that isconnected to the first wall and a fourth wall is connected to the secondwall. The first and fourth walls are parallel to each other andperpendicular to the second and third walls. The second and third wallsare parallel to each other and perpendicular to the fourth wall.Preferably, the third wall includes a flange that is perpendicular tothe second and third walls and is parallel to the first and fourthwalls. Preferably also, the fourth wall is provided with a flange thatis parallel to the second and third walls and perpendicular to the firstand fourth walls and the first flange.

The upper end of the inside corner stud fits inside of a corner portionof an upper track and the lower end of the inside corner stud fitsinside of a corner portion of a lower track. The flanges of the tracksare secured to the first and second walls of the stud by the use ofsheet metal screws.

In a preferred corner assembly, a stud that may be a conventional sheetmetal stud is provided at the outside corner of the wall. The flanges ofthe upper and lower tracks are secured to the webs and one flange ofthis stud.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a channel shapedcorner stud having a web that is bent about a longitudinal axis intofirst and second parts, each part including a sidewall at its outer edgethat extends perpendicular to its part and a flange at the outer end ofthe wall that extends perpendicular to the wall. This construction givesthe stud the shape of a lipped channel having a web that is bent about alongitudinal axis. The angle between the two web parts on the channelside of the stud may vary substantially. A common angle will be onehundred and thirty-five degrees (135°) for a stud that is used at theoutside corner. Another common angle is two hundred and seventy degrees(270°) for a stud that is used at the inside wall. Walls that meet at anangle other than ninety degrees (90°) will have upper and lower trackportions at the corner which have the same angular relationship as thewall of which they are apart.

Other objects, advantages and features of the invention will becomeapparent from the description of the best mode set forth below, from thedrawings, from the claims and from the principles that are embodied inthe specific structures that are illustrated and described.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Like reference numerals are used to designate like parts throughout theseveral views of the drawing, and:

For background purposes, FIG. 1 shows a prior art arrangement of priorart studs at a corner formed by intersecting framing walls, such viewshowing corner studs in cross section, lower track components in planand inside and outside wallboard members in section.

FIG. 2 is a view at the same corner as FIG. 1, but showing an sidecorner stud constructing according to present invention and itsarrangement with a conventional stud at the outside corner;

FIG. 3 shows upper and lower corner components for the upper and lowertracks spaced from each other and confronting each other; and

FIG. 4 is a view like FIG. 3, but showing a fragmentary portion of theinside corner stud and the outside corner stud in the same arrangementas FIG. 2, and where two walls meet.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a screw connection between two sheet metalmembers;

FIG. 6 is an end view of an inside corner stud for a corner formed bytwo walls that intersect at a diagonal;

FIG. 7 is a view like FIG. 6, but showing an outside corner stud for thesame wall;

FIG. 8 is a view like FIG. 2, but of a diagonal corner and showing theuse of the studs that are shown by FIGS. 6 and 7; and

FIG. 9 is a view like FIG. 8, but showing an intersection of wallsbetween two corners, showing the use at the intersection of two insidecorner studs such as shown by FIGS. 2 and 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT

In FIG. 1, three conventional studs 10, 12, 14 are shown at a corner.The lower ends of the studs 10, 12, 14 are inside a lower track at itscorner. Stud 10 has a web 16 that is substantially co-planar with trackflange 18. Stud 12 has a web 20 that is substantially co-planar with webflange 22. Stud 14 has a web 24 that is situated inside adjacent trackflange 26. Studs 10, 14 have flanges 28, 30 that are inside adjacenttrack flange 32. Stud 10 has a flange 34 that is inside adjacent trackflange 22. Stud 12 has a flange 36 that is adjacent track flange 26 anda flange 38 that is adjacent track flange 18. Stud 14 has a flange 38that is adjacent stud web 20. Stud web 24 and stud flange 36 aresubstantially co-planar and are both inside adjacent track flange 26. Atthe inside of the corner, wallboard panels 40, 42 are backed up by studflanges 34, 38 respectively. At the outside corner, wallboard panel 40is backed by stud flanges 28, 30 and wallboard panel 46 is backed up bystud web 24 and stud flange 36. As will be appreciated, the upper endsof the studs 10, 12, 14 fit into the upper track corner in essentiallythe same way as illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 2 and 4 show an inside corner stud 50 having a first wall 52 thatbacks up wallboard panel 40 and a second wall 54 that backs up wallboardpanel 42. First wall 52 has a first edge 56 and a second edge 58. Secondwall 54 has a first edge 60 and a second edge 62. The second edge 58 offirst wall 52 is connected to the first edge 60 of second wall 54. Athird wall 64 has a first edge 66 and a second edge 68. Edge 68 of wall64 is connected to edge 56 of wall 52. A fourth wall 70 has a first edge72 and a second edge 74. Edge 62 of wall 54 is connected to edge 72 ofwall 70. A first flange 76 is connected to the first edge of third wall64. A second flange 78 is connected to the second edge 74 of fourth wall70. Flange 76 and walls 52, 70 are parallel to each other andperpendicular to walls 54, 64 and flange 78.

The upper and lower ends of inside corner stud 50 are received in theinside corner portions of upper and lower track corner components.

Inside corner stud 50 may be used by itself as shown by FIGS. 2 and 4,or it may be used together with a conventional stud 80 that is at theoutside corner, positioned with its web backing up one of the wallboardpanels 44, 46 and a flange backing up the other. In FIGS. 2 and 4, thestud web 82 is shown to be adjacent the track flange 32 and the studflange 84 is shown to be adjacent the track flange 26. Alternatively,the stud 80 may be turned 90° so that its web 82 contacts track flange26 and its flange 88 contacts track flange 32.

FIG. 4 shows that the upper ends of the studs 50, 84 fit upwardly intothe upper corner track component just like the lower end portions fitwithin the lower corner track component.

The inside corner stud 50 is strong and provides a wide and solid backupfor the wallboard panels 40, 42 where they meet at the inside corner.The upper and lower flanges 90, 92 and 22, 18 can be easily and quicklyconnected to the stud walls 52, 54 by screw fasteners. When screwfasteners are used to secure the intersecting end portions of thewallboard panels 40, 42 to the stud walls 52, 54, a solid connection isprovided at the inside corner for the corner track components, theinside corner stud and the wallboard panels 40, 42.

The outside corner stud 80 can also be easily and quickly installed. Itsupper and lower ends are fitted into the outside corner portions of thetwo corner track components. Screw fasteners are inserted through thetrack flanges 94, 96 and are screwed into the outside corner stud flange102. In similar fashion, screw fasteners are inserted through flanges98, 100 of the corner track components and are screwed into the stud web104. Thus, the ends of the outside corner stud 80 are firmly connectedto the track flanges 94, 98 and 96, 100 and then the wallboard panels44, 46 are firmly attached to the corner stud web 104 and the cornerstud flange 102.

FIG. 5 shows a sheet metal screw extending through a track flange andeither a stud flange or web. This screw may be a conventional sheetmetal screw or it may be a sheet metal screw having a flatter head thanconventional sheet metal screws. The FIG. 5 showing of a screwconnection is typical of a screw connection that can be used at eachlocation where a track flange is connected to a stud flange or web, or awallboard panel is connected to a sheet metal member.

FIG. 6 shows an inside corner stud 200 for a diagonal corner and FIG. 7shows an outside corner stud 202 for the same corner. FIG. 8 shows thestuds 200, 202 installed at the intersection of two wall sections of adiagonal wall. Specifically, the corner studs 200, 202 are shown withtheir lower ends inside of a channel shape lower track 204 having a web206 and flanges 208, 210 that intersect at the corner. The top track(not shown) is a mirror image of the lower track 206. The upper ends ofthe corner studs 200, 202 extend into the upper track in essentially thesame manner as shown in FIG. 8. The corner stud 200 includes a web 212that is bent about a longitudinal axis 214 into two web parts 216, 218.Web parts 216, 218 lie against the flange 210 on the inside of thetrack. In similar fashion, outside corner stud 200 is bent along alongitudinal axis 220 into first and second web parts 222, 224. As shownby FIG. 8, the end portions of the corner stud 202 fit within the cornerwith the web parts 222, 224 against the track flange 208. Forreinforcement purposes, corner stud 200 includes sidewalls 226, 228which extend perpendicular to the web parts 216, 218. Sidewalls 226, 228include flanges 230, 232 that extend perpendicular to the sidewalls 226,228. Corner stud 206 has a similar construction. Sidewalls 234, 236extend perpendicular from the web parts 222, 224. Flanges 238, 240extend at a perpendicular from the sidewalls 234.

FIG. 9 shows the use of two inside corner studs 50 where a perpendicularwall intersection a mid portion of a long straight wall.

Corner studs 50, 200, 202 are similar to common studs, the differencebeing the dimensions of the studs and the size of the angle a betweenthe web parts 52, 54, web parts 216, 218 and web parts 222, 224. Theangle between the channel side faces of the web parts 52, 54 of stud 50is ninety degrees (90°). For corner stud 200, the angle a is two hundredand ten degrees (210°). For corner stud 202, the angle a is one hundredand fifty degrees (150°). As can be seen, the angle a will vary inaccordance with the intersection angle of the two walls of the corner.The designed of the building establishes at what angle the two wallswill meet and that angle is used to compute the value of angle a foreach of the corner studs 200, 202.

Preferably, the web, sidewall and flange portions of the studs 50, 200,202 are manufactured by use of a standard roll forming process. Thisprocess results in the rolled stud having a flat web, sidewallsextending perpendicular to the edges of the web, and flanges extendingperpendicular to the edges of the sidewalls. According to a methodaspect of the invention, the rolled stud is then bent around alongitudinal center line until the two web parts are separated from eachother by the desired angle a. This bending may be done by a commonprocess known as “breaking.” One half of the web is held by a memberthat includes a longitudinal outside edge. The second half is then bentaround the outside edge.

The illustrated embodiments are only examples of the present inventionand, therefore, are non-limitive. It is to be understood that manychanges in the particular structure, materials and features of theinvention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention. Therefore, it is my intention that my patent rights not belimited by the particular embodiments that are illustrated and describedherein, but rather are to be determined by the following claims,interpreted according to accepted doctrines of patent claiminterpretation, including use of the doctrine of equivalents.

1. An elongated corner stud comprising: a web having opposite sideedges; sidewalls connected to the opposite side edges and extendingoutwardly from the web; said web and sidewall forming a channel; aflange extending laterally inwardly from each sidewall; and said webbeing bent along a longitudinal axis, dividing the web into two partsseparated by a channel side angle that is between about ninety degrees(90°) and about two hundred and seventy degrees (270°).
 2. The stud ofclaim 1, wherein the inside angle between the two web parts issubstantially about ninety degrees (90°).
 3. The stud of claim 1,wherein the channel side angle between the two web parts issubstantially about one hundred and fifty degrees (150°).
 4. The stud ofclaim 1, wherein the channel side angle between the two web parts issubstantially about two hundred and ten degrees (210°).
 5. The stud ofclaim 1, wherein the channel side angle between the two web parts is anobtuse angle less than one hundred and eighty degrees (180°).
 6. Thestud of claim 1, wherein the channel side angle between the two webparts is greater than one hundred and eighty degrees (180°) but lessthan about two hundred and seventy degrees (270°).
 7. An elongated sheetmetal inside corner stud, comprising: a first wall; a second wall; athird wall; a fourth wall; said first wall having a first edge and asecond edge; said second wall having a first edge and a second edge;said third wall having a first edge and a second edge; said fourth wallhaving a first edge and a second edge; said second edge of said firstwall being connected to the first edge of the second wall; said secondedge of the third wall being connected to the first edge of the firstwall; said second edge of the third wall being connected to the firstedge of the first wall; said second edge of the second wall beingconnected to the first edge of the fourth wall; said first wall beingperpendicular to the second wall and the third wall, and parallel to thefourth wall; said second wall being perpendicular to the first wall andthe fourth wall, and parallel to the third wall; and said first andsecond walls forming an inside corner that is adapted to be positionedto provide a backing for wallboard edges that meet at the inside corner.8. The inside corner stud of claim 7, further comprising a first flangeconnected to the first edge of the third wall and a second flangeconnected to second edge of the fourth wall.
 9. The inside corner studof claim 8, wherein the first flange is substantially perpendicular tothe third wall and the second flange is substantially perpendicular tothe fourth wall.
 10. A corner stud assembly in a framing wall,comprising: an upper track forming an inside corner; a lower trackforming an inside corner below the inside corner formed by the uppertrack; said upper track having perpendicular flanges at the upper insidecorner; said lower track having perpendicular flanges at the lowerinside corner formed by the lower track; an elongated sheet metal,inside corner stud, comprising: a first wall; a second wall; a thirdwall; a fourth wall; said first wall having a first edge and a secondedge; said second wall having a first edge and a second edge; said thirdwall having a first edge and a second edge; said fourth wall having afirst edge and a second edge; said second edge of said first wall beingconnected to the first edge of the second wall; said second edge of thethird wall being connected to the first edge of the first wall; saidsecond edge of the third wall being connected to the first edge of thefirst wall; said second edge of the second wall being connected to thefirst edge of the fourth wall; said first wall being perpendicular tothe second wall and the third wall, and parallel to the fourth wall;said second wall being perpendicular to the first wall and the fourthwall, and parallel to the third wall; and said first and second wallsforming an inside corner that is inwardly adjacent to the flanges at theinside corners of the upper and lower tracks, and is adapted to providea backing for wallboard edges that meet at the inside corner.
 11. Thecorner stud assembly of claim 10, wherein the inside corner studcomprises a first flange connected to the first edge of the third wall;and a second flange connected to the second edge of the fourth wall. 12.The corner stud assembly of claim 10, wherein the first flange isperpendicular to the third wall and the second flange is perpendicularto the fourth wall.
 13. The corner stud assembly of claim 10, whereinthe upper track forms an outside corner, the lower track forms anoutside corner below the outside corner formed by the upper track, anelongated stud extending between the outside corner of the upper trackand the outside corner of the lower track, said outside stud contactingintersecting upper and lower track flanges at the outside corner. 14.The corner stud assembly of claim 13, wherein the outside corner studhas a web in contact with upper and lower outside track flanges and aflange in contact with upper and lower outside track flanges.
 15. Themethod of manufacturing a corner stud, comprising: providing anelongated sheet metal member; roll forming the sheet metal member togive it a channel shape formed by a web, opposite sidewalls extendingsubstantially perpendicular to the web, and flanges on the sidewallsopposite the web which are bent inwardly towards each other in co-planarparallelism; and bending the web about a longitudinal axis to divide itinto two web parts that are separated by an angle giving the web adihedral shape.
 16. The method of claim 15, comprising bending the webto create a dihedral angle on the channel side of the stud that islarger than one hundred and eighty degrees (180°).
 17. The method ofclaim 15, comprising bending the web to create a dihedral angle on thechannel side of the stud that is substantially about two hundred andseventy degrees (270°).
 18. The method of claim 15, comprising bendingthe web so that the dihedral angle is substantially about two hundredand ten degrees (210°).
 19. The method of claim 15, comprising bendingthe web to create a dihedral angle on the channel side of the stud thatis substantially about one hundred and fifty degrees (150°).
 20. Themethod of claim 15, comprising bending the web by use of a sheet metalbending break.